If Only Tears Could Bring You Back
by Momo no Hana
Summary: Alternate Timeline, HxK. Yusuke never caught Hiei or recovered the Shadow Sword. Now Hiei is at the top of Koenma's most wanted list, and the only person who can stop him is...Kurama?
1. One

If Only Tears Could Bring You Back

by Momo no Hana

"You okay?"

Kurama glanced up, his eyes locking with Yusuke's. The Spirit Detective was frowning at him, and the rays of the setting sun cast dark shadows over his concerned face. Kurama managed a weak smile for the boy's sake, though he was more tempted to cringe. Blood was gushing from his abdomen, streaming over the hand he had pressed to his wound.

"Don't worry about me. I've had worse," Kurama said. His eyes moved away from the human's face, settling instead upon the girl Yusuke carried on his back. Her hair shone prettily in the sun, and her cheek was pressed against Yusuke's shoulder. All three of her eyes were closed. "You should be more concerned about your friend. If her body rejects the Jagan, she could die."

Yusuke bit his lip.

"It's my fault." Yusuke ducked his head with shame. "It's all my fault! I should have been able to beat him—"

"No," Kurama cut the other boy off before he could really start. "Don't blame yourself for the way things have turned out. Hiei had every possible advantage today. He's stronger, faster, and more experienced than you are. It follows logically that he would beat you."

"But… It _is _my fault. Now Keiko's a monster, and it never would have happened if I had just beaten Hiei. And what about you, Kurama?" Yusuke gave Kurama a regretful look. "You trusted me to stop Hiei, and I let you down. Now you're as much a target as I am."

"I knew what I was getting myself into when I decided to help you." Kurama sighed, his dark green eyes falling to the ground sadly. "I was so desperate for Hiei to snap out of it. I wanted him to understand that he was wrong, that stealing the Artifacts was wrong." He dipped his head even further, and his bangs cast shadows over his eyes. "It was foolish of me to hope."

Yusuke gave him a shaky smile.

"Come on. So Hiei got away. It could have been worse, you know." His smile almost broke. "He could have killed you. At least he showed some mercy." Kurama murmured something, but it was too quiet to hear. The Spirit Detective frowned in confusion. "What?"

"I said, I would rather have died," Kurama said flatly. "Hiei may have spared my life, but it was not out of mercy. He knows my every weakness, and he knows exactly what to do to hurt me. Hiei can come back whenever he feels like it, kill me at any moment—or so much worse. Sparing my life, only so that I can live in terror…" Kurama's eyes went blank. "Is that what humans call mercy?"

Yusuke looked away.

"I never thought about it like that," he said quietly. He looked at Kurama again, staring at the red-haired demon. "You sure you're going to be okay?"

Kurama smiled.

"Don't worry about me. I can get through this." There was a strange shadow behind his eyes. "Like I said, I've had worse."

"Okay, okay. You can take care of yourself," Yusuke granted. "That doesn't mean I can't worry about you. That's what friends do, you know."

Kurama tipped his head to the side.

"I have never been friends with a human before," Kurama informed him. He calmly placed his free hand over his abdomen. He brought the other hand to his mouth and lapped at the blood with his tongue, cleaning himself. "Humans are not very accepting of my kind."

Yusuke turned his head and stared at Kurama. Strangely, he was not freaked out by the demon's method of cleaning himself. It just reminded him of a cat grooming its paws.

"You made yourself a target for my sake," Yusuke said. "Demon or not, you helped me, and that's more than I can say for most humans."

Kurama's eyes softened.

"Thank you, Yusuke. As your friend, I will everything in my power to help you catch Hiei." Kurama swept his long hair over his shoulder. "But before that, we should see what we can do about your friend's Jagan. Shall we go to my house?"

_A/N: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. In other news, from the episodes I have seen them in, I have concluded that Kurama and Hiei make a good couple. Therefore, this story includes shounen ai. -sweatdrops- This concept has already been done before, but it's never been the way I wanted it, so here's my story. Read and review, mm'kay?_


	2. Two

If Only Tears Could Bring You Back

by Momo no Hana

"You sure?" Yusuke asked. "I mean, I could just go back to my place…"

"Don't worry. My mother is recovering at the hospital, so I have the house to myself for a few more days." Kurama pushed his key into the lock and held the door open for his friend. "Besides, I've placed talisman cards over my windows and doors. Hiei can't do anything to us here. It's really in your best interest to stay."

Yusuke paused for another moment. Then he entered the house, slipping out of his shoes and kicking them toward the mat beside the door.

"Thanks, Kurama," Yusuke said. He cautiously moved Keiko so that her weight was easier for him to handle.

"It's no trouble." Kurama closed the front door behind him, nodding toward an open doorway. "You can put her on the couch in there. I need to do something about this hole in my stomach, but I'll be back in a minute."

Yusuke nodded and disappeared through the doorway. Kurama sighed deeply and leaned back against the door, letting his eyes fall shut. He felt shaky and weak from the blood loss. Worse, his wound had gone untreated for over an hour. If he got an infection…

_Best not think about that. Yusuke needs you now._

There was a beeping sound. Kurama's green eyes opened a crack, wandering around as he peered through the dark cover of his lashes. A red number glowed on the answering machine. Stifling a groan, Kurama covered his wound with one hand and pushed away from the door. He pressed a button on the machine as he passed.

"_Hey, it's Shuichi. My dad told me that I should call you." _Kurama entered the bathroom, listening with half an ear as the message continued. _"Dr. Kamiya says that your mom should be okay to leave the hospital on Tuesday. Your mom says to keep up with your homework and make sure you eat enough… Right, see you later."_

Kurama took some bandages from the medicine cabinet and shrugged off his jacket. The magenta cloth was stained with blood, and there was a ragged hole where the Shadow Sword had stabbed him. Not worth saving.

Plucking a seed from his long hair, where he stored most of the seeds he used, Kurama gently pushed his energy through the outer shell. His gift—to make plants grow. There were so many uses for such an ability. He could make weapons from his plants, turns blades of grass into daggers or roses into whips. He could grow fruits and vegetables and never worry about going hungry. He could make poisons and medicine. It was very versatile, plant magic. The only drawback was his energy… Though he could use it in many ways, he had very little power. It had been so easy for Hiei and Gouki to take advantage of him…

As the plant grew between his thumb and forefinger, Kurama turned his hand so that his palm was facing the floor. The plant held fast, developing lumps that swelled up like bubbles. Kurama grabbed the soap dish with his free hand and placed the bar on top of the shelf, holding the plant over the empty dish. He squeezed gently, causing the dark blue flesh to burst and secrete a clear pulp.

Kurama clenched his hand and carefully squashed the pulp out of the plant and into the soap dish. When he was sure he had gotten as much of the pulp as possible, Kurama dropped the useless flesh of the plant into the garbage can and grabbed a cloth, dampening it.

He cleaned the blood from his abdomen and then scooped up some pulp. As soon as he spread the pulp over his wound, his flesh cooled and began to mend. Even if he _was _weak, at least Kurama could heal himself. For all the power of his Jagan, Hiei had been forced to rely on others for medical attention. He couldn't heal a paper cut on his own.

After he had wrapped some bandages around the wound, Kurama gathered up the materials he had used and left the bathroom, walking down the hall. He paused outside of the open doorway of the living-room. Yusuke was kneeling beside the couch, holding Keiko's limp hand and talking to her.

"I'm such a frickin' idiot." Yusuke clutched her hand more tightly. "I… I really screwed up this time. Now you're…you're a monster… And what am I supposed to say to Kurama? He trusted me to stop Hiei, and I just made things worse!" Yusuke brushed some hair away from Keiko's forehead. "What should I do, Keiko? I don't know what to do…"

Yusuke fell silent, and Kurama guessed that he was done talking. He cleared his throat, making the boy tense and glance over his shoulder.

"We can't reverse what has been done to her body, Yusuke. Suppressing demonization is one thing, but turning a demon into a human is another matter. You need strong, pure energy—something I have not had for many years." Kurama walked toward Yusuke, placing the dish and bandages on the arm of the couch. "But I can mend what part of her mind was damaged by the transformation."

"Yeah," Yusuke said. He swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, Kurama."

_A/N: Progressing slooowly, very slooowly. But we are making progress. Genkai enters the story next chapter, and so does Kuwabara. After that, prepare yourselves! The HieixKurama starts showing up._


	3. Three

If Only Tears Could Bring You Back

by Momo no Hana

"Man, how did Koenma get us to do this?" Yusuke grumbled, scrambling over an enormous tree root that had grown over the path. Kurama carefully stepped over the same root. They had been hiking through the forest for nearly an hour, and the temple was nowhere in sight.

_How indeed_, Kurama wondered, tucking some bright red hair behind his ear.

_-A few hours ago…-_

"_Well?" Yusuke asked, his arms crossed over his chest._

_Koenma "hmm"ed as he leaned over Keiko, who had not moved from her place on the couch in Kurama's house. He grasped her chin between his small, pudgy hands, tipping her face up so he could study the closed eye on her forehead. He opened the Jagan, peered into it, and shook his head._

"_There's nothing more that can be done, Yusuke," the toddler said. "Kurama managed to restore her mind, but you'll have to reclaim the Shadow Sword if you want to change her back into a human."_

"_You think I don't know that already?" The Spirit Detective clenched his hands, aggravated. "Look, I tried, okay? There's no way for me to beat him!"_

"_Hiei's strength is overwhelming," Kurama murmured. He stood beside the window, his arms folded and his eyes distant. "I don't think it's possible for Yusuke to beat him without proper training."_

"_I don't think so, either," Koenma agreed. "That's why, for the moment, I am suspending the case."_

"_What?!" Yusuke yelped, unfolding his arms. "What do you mean, you're suspending the case?"_

"_There's no point in chasing after Hiei if you have no chance of catching him. That would be a waste of the Spirit World's time and resources." The toddler cleared his throat. "I have contacted one of my former Detectives and arranged some training for you. Once you've gotten stronger, you can take another shot at Hiei."_

"_I'm strong enough already! I don't need to train!"_

"_If you were as strong as you say, you would have beaten Hiei," Koenma said sharply. Yusuke deflated, and the toddler frowned. "But you aren't strong enough, and you haven't beaten him, and that's why I asked Genkai to teach you. You _will _accept her training." Yusuke scowled at him, and Koenma narrowed his eyes. "If you don't want to earn your place on Earth anymore, I can always have Botan take you back to the Spirit World."_

_There was a moment of uncomfortable silence._

"_Fine," Yusuke mumbled, defeated._

-Present-

"What did Koenma mean by that, anyway?" Kurama murmured, sending a curious look at Yusuke. "That he would return you to the Spirit World."

"Oh. Well, ya see, I got myself hit by a car about a month ago and died. Koenma's the one who had me resurrected, and I have to work as a Spirit Detective so that I can repay him." Yusuke glanced over his shoulder at Kurama. "I don't have a choice here. If I turned him down I would be a ghost again, and all the crap I went through to come back to life would be for nothing."

"Mm. But I suppose—"

Kurama froze when a flare of energy turned the forest around them pink. There was a loud _boom_, followed by a small earthquake. The birds that had been perching in the trees around them took flight, startled by the explosion, and Yusuke and Kurama shared a glance before breaking into a run.

As they leaped over rocks and tree roots, the two boys could see a stone staircase carved into the mountainside. They took the steps three at a time, stopping at the enormous gates that stood at the top of the stairs.

"I think we found the temple," Yusuke commented needlessly. He grabbed the handle of one door and pulled, managing to open the gates a crack. They popped their heads through just in time to see a second flash of energy.

"AHHHH! ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT ALREADY, I GIVE UP!" Kuwabara let out a loud screech, jumping behind a stone bench as the pink energy crashed toward him. The bench crumbled, and the tall, orange-haired boy was left to cower behind the pile of rubble. "YOU WIN!"

The pink glow in the center of the courtyard dimmed, revealing the source of the powerful energy. Yusuke and Kurama blinked. The young woman was even shorter than Hiei and had crinkled pink hair. She wore a long blue coat over a white linen shirt_. She must be a keeper of the temple_, Kurama thought.

"I don't know why you even bothered challenging me, Kuwabara. Creating a sword is simple if you have enough energy, but learning how to use that sword is another matter," the woman said, frowning and clasping her hands behind her back.

"I'm _trying_, okay? This spirit energy thing is kind of tough!" Kuwabara complained, moving so that he sat on the ground. Some rubble had gotten stuck on his blue uniform and in his gelled hair. "I have to concentrate on keeping the energy out of my body, and make it the right shape, and I don't have time to think about how I use it!"

"Hmph!" The woman did not look impressed. "If you had truly mastered your energy, you shouldn't have to concentrate! It should come as naturally as breathing!" The small woman glanced at the open gates, her frown deepening as she saw the two boys peering through the crack. "What now? More kiddies come to get themselves spanked? This temple isn't a playground, you know!"

Kuwabara jerked his head to see what she was looking at.

"Urameshi!" Kuwabara yelped, eyes wide. "What's going on? I mean, what are you doing here?"

"I've got good reasons, unlike some people," Yusuke retorted as he stepped out from behind the gates. He looked at the woman. "Yo, lady! You know an old hag by the name of Genkai? She's supposed to be running around this dump somewhere."

"Yusuke, please. You don't know who you could be offending," Kurama murmured as he stepped up beside the Spirit Detective. He bowed his head to the woman respectfully. "Good afternoon, ma'am. We were sent here to see Master Genkai."

The woman glanced between the two boys, as if she were measuring them.

"Kuwabara, show our guests inside."

_A/N: Finally got a new chapter out. Kuwabara has been introduced, as promised, and Genkai… Well, she appeared in her younger form for this chapter. She'll be back to normal next chapter, though, and Kuwabara gets curious about Kurama (specifically, why Yusuke has so many 'girlfriends')._


End file.
